True, but I’m sure Asimov would’ve approved.
Det Sjunde Inseglet was originally conceived as a musical. Antonius Block and Jons were orignally scheduled to do a musical number called Riders On Bjorn and Rannsakning In The Rain. Death originally had a multicolored cloak and sang I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major Sla Ihjal.
In the film “Guys and Dolls”, Marlon Brando plays Sky Masterson, and Frank Sinatra plays Nathan Detroit. What is uncommon knowledge is that this was the result of a bet between Samuel Goldwyn and Frank Loesser that went horribly wrong.
There was no such thing as silent films. What we regard as “silent films” are in fact sound films to which the soundtrack discs have been lost.
The real Winston Churchill died when his plane was shot down in 1943, and Leslie Howard was forced to be Churchill for the last 22 years of his life.
“Deuce Bigalow, Male Giglio” is based on the last screenplay written by Orson Welles, and “American Pie 2” on the only complete screenplay written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
There is no such person as Bette Midler.
MGM is owned by the Mormons, but Paramount is owned by Episcopalians.
The Oscars are rigged by order of the real NSC, which, as all readers of our own “Good News/ Bad News Game” thread will remember, consists of game show personalities of the 1970’s.
Memento is the result of an editor’s prank that wasn’t detected until the first public screening.
The newly released Girl with the Gold Earring should be familiar to many viewers. It is a direct shot-for-shot remake of the 1965 film Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
…not to be confused with The Girl with the Curse of the Black Pearl Earring, a ground-breaking feminist manifesto…
Steven Spielberg is believed to be responsible for the deaths of over 600 people, not counting characters in his movies.
They originally wanted Prince Charles for the role of Aragorn, as a form of type-casting, but he refused when Camilla wasn’t offered the role of Eowyn.
Doris Day really is a virgin.
Clark Gable had no upper lip. For films, they inserted one under his moustache.
While it is well-known that John Wayne’s birth name was Marion, it is less well-known that they named that town in Ohio after him. (Gary, Indiana, of course, is named after Gary Cooper.)
Peter Jackson’s entire epic Lord of the Rings trilogy was made through an arcane process called reverse-rotoscoping. First, all three movies were drawn completely by hand, then real life actors painstakingly recreated the animated action.
There was originally a bloody massacre scene at the end of My Big Fat Greek Wedding but it was removed when it didn’t “test well” with preview audiences.
Prior to filming Harold and Maude, director Hal Ashby had actor Bud Cort cloned. The apparent fake suicides committed in the movie are actually real.
Contrary to the widespread belief that Tom Cruise is a robot, he is, in fact, a product of the top secret clone vats maintained by the NSA underneath the Colorado Rockies.
Billy Crystal, on the other hand, is a robot.
Plans for a remake of the classic Guess who’s coming to dinner by David Cronenberg were axed when it was discovered that Cronenberg had entered negotiations with Armin M., the German cannibal, to collaborate on the script. Insiders say management found the whole idea ‘distasteful’.
In some of the scenes of Primary Colors the President is actually played by Bill Clinton.
John Travolta is not an actual member of Scientology, he is only paid to act like one.
There are only two Baldwin brothers, Alec and Stephen. Daniel and William are alternate characters they created in childhood.
The lion used as a logo for MGM is not an actual lion, but an elaborate robot. The original MGM lion, “Leo,” is believed to be buried in Gillette, New Jersey; but in the grave is a stuffed lion.
Toy Story was not a computer-generated film, but actually a documentary about actual toys that come alive. In fact, none of Pixar’s films are computer-generated. It’s all a hoax. Steve Jobs founded the company in 1986 when he accidential stumbled onto footage of lamps that could move. This footage was edited into Luxo Jr.
A Christmas Carol: In the original version Scrooge doesn’t change for the better until the very end, when Tiny Tim beats the crap out of him with his cane.
It’s a Wonderful Life: When George is wishing a merry Christmas to all of the buildings; they were supposed to respond and say “Thanks George!! Merry Christmas to you too buddy!!!”
One of the reasons why the special effects in “2001: A Space Odyssey” look so convincing is because many of the FX technicians who worked on the film also worked for the government in filming the fake moon landing.
Years later, some of the original fake NASA sets would be brought out of storage for the filming of Ron Howard’s “Apollo 13”. Which, of course, was funded by NASA as a pro-government propaganda piece.
Alan Smithee is a real person, with many films to his credit as a director.
On those occassions when Mr. Smithee had directed a film that does not live up to his usual standards, he has been known to use the pseudonym “Michael Bay”.
Tom Hanks looks remarkably similar to his uncle Bruce who died in the vietnam war. At Tom Hank’s suggestion, director Robert Zemeckis edited in old newsreel footage of Bruce shaking hands with President Kennedy in the movie Forrest Gump.
The meowing kitten from the MTM logo was found dead in a hotel room, choked on his own vomit after overdosing on percodans and catnip.
The original script of They Live described a two-hour fistfight. Within the first week of shooting, Jesse Ventura and Carl Weathers (the orignal cast) were too injured to continue, forcing a recasting and reworking of the story.
For the making of the film “Apollo 13,” the producers actually sent Tom Hanks into space in a replica of an Apollo capsule. Tragically, a computer malfuncion left them unable to return the capsule to earth. The capsule crashed into the sun in 1999, incinerating the unfortunate Mr. Hanks.